Keys used for operating locks provide access control to buildings, vehicles, office furniture, cabinets, pad locked premises and so on. Consumers commonly carry a set of keys they need for daily activities. Typically, a key consists of a “blade”, which is the portion of the key that slides into the key way of a lock and a “bow”, which is the portion of key that is left protruding from the key way so that torque can be applied to the blade.
Consumers often place an extra key in an inconspicuous location within close proximity to the mating lock such that if a primary key is lost, a hidden key may be retrieved to open the lock. In many everyday situations, a key is placed in a concealed location for a family member, friend or even a contractor to access a building or locked chattel. Spare access keys are quite often hung on a nail, placed within a mailbox or under a door mat. These types of hiding locations are obvious to a potential intruder.
Magnetic key cases are known to exist wherein a key may be placed within a case which is then magnetically attached to a ferrous object for future use, if necessary. Such key cases are relatively bulky in relation to the key itself thereby making it rather difficult to successfully conceal in reasonable proximity to the corresponding lock without being detected by unscrupulous persons. A new and improved key device that could be conveniently and stealthily concealed in an unsuspecting and inconspicuous location would be beneficial to most every consumer.
By way of further example, U.S. Patent Publication Number US 2004/0079125, filed Oct. 29, 2002, contemplates a key having a permanent magnet retained within a bow opening by means of an intermediate grommet holder with the bow then encased in plastic. The grommet holder and plastic encasement of the bow makes the device bulky and undesirable for application to common building keys, office furniture keys and the like. Further, the plastic casing, which fully encases the magnet, significantly reduces gauss strength of the magnet. Furthermore, this configuration requires a key blank to be manufactured with a special hole to receive the magnet.
Traditional keys also suffer from disadvantages. For example, since most keys are constructed of a metallic material they tend to create an undesired noise when impacting one another. A plurality of keys mounted to a key ring can be unappealing due to the rattling noise when in motion. Additionally, a bundle of traditional keys that are freely movable on a key ring tend to get tangled with other items within a purse, carry bag, clothing pocket and so on.
Thus, there is a need for improvements in keys that address one or more of the problems described above or the problems that will be apparent to one of skill in the art based on the detailed description contained herein.